Fuel-feeding device fob cabbttbetebs



P. P. GILLESJ FUEL FEEDING DEVICE FOR CARBURETERS.

APPLICATION man on. 14. ms.

Patented 0c 1919.

1 2 SHEETS- I.

P. P. GILLES.

l-UEI. FEEDING DEVICE FOR CARBURETERS.

APPLICATION mzo 0021.14. 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 7, 1919.

PIERRE P. GILLES, 0F SPBINGFIELD, MABSACHUSETTS.

FUEL-FEEDING DEVICE FOR- CARBUBETEBS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. '7, 1919.

Application filed October 14, 1918. Serial K0. 258,092.

To all whom it me concern:

Be it known t at I Pmnnn P. Grnnns, born in Switzerland of German parentage, now believing myself to be a citizen of the Swiss Confederation, and havin formally declared m intentions of becoming a citizen of thenited States of America in conformance with the United States immigration laws, and now residing at Springfield, in th county of Ham den and State of Massachusetts, United States of America,

have invented certain new and useful Im- Devices for %rovements in Fuel-Feedin ollowing is a consist essentially of a fuel supply chamber;

which is provided with an air inlet, a suction connection and a fuel inlet adapted for connection to the low level fuel tank; and a valve of valves to open the air inlet and close the suction connection, after suflicient fuel has been drawn by suction into the chamber from the low level tank, and to close the air inlet and 0 en the suction connection, whenever the el in the chamber falls below a iven level due to the gravity discharge of uel from the chamber to the carburetor. The arrangement described has proved generally satisfactory, but experionce has shown that at certain times there may be a flow of fuel intothe supply chamber when such flow is not desired. Thus, where in an automobile the fuel supply chamber and the low level fuel tank are 10- cated at not greatly different levels, it mav frequently happen that the low level tank will lie at a higher level than the fuel supply chamber when the automobile is on a down grade. Therefore, even though the suction connection to the fuel supply chamher be closed, fuel may, at such tunes, flow b avity into the chamber and, since the air inlet is, at such a time, 0 en, fuel may be splashed through the air et or otherwise tank to a carbureten.

danger of fuel pass therefrom if such gravity flow of fuel sufficiently raises the level of fuel in the chamber. The difiiculty described is of course accentuated where the fuel supply chamber is located closely adjacent to or is attached to or made integrally with, the carburetor, for 1n such instances, the maximum diflerence in level obtainable between the fuel supply chamber and the low level tank is limited and must needs be much less than where the fuel supply chamber is separate from the carburetor and therefore capable of being located at any desired level. The diflicuty described also results to a certain extent from the splashing of fuel in the low level tank, due to vibration and the jars and )OltS experienced when the automobile is operated over rough roads. From time to time fuel may be splashed from the low level tank so as to lodge in the fuel feed pi e and thereafter pass to the supply cham er by gravity flow.

This invention is concerned with the elimination of the dil'liculties described and has for its object to provide in a fuel feeding device for carbureters, a valve to automatically and positively open and close the fuel inlet, and to open the latter when the fuel in the supply ehambenhas fallen to a predetermined level and to close the inlet when the chamber has been filled with fuel to a predetermined level.

According to this feature of the invention the flow .of fuel to the fuel supply chamber is positively prevented at all times except when such flow is desired, as for example when the suction valve is open. When the latter is open it matters not whether fuel then flows by gravity or is drawn by suction to the chamber, for as soon as the chamber has been filled with fuel to the desired level, the fuel inlet is positively closed. The supply chamber cannot therefore become flooded and, as lon as the fuel is revented from risin bevon a predetermined level in the chem er, there is no being splashed from, or otherwise leaving, the chamber through the open air inlet.

Other ob]ects and advantages will up er in the following descri tion and in the 1 lu'strative embodiment o the invention in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fi rel is a top plan view of a fuel feeding flies embodying the invention,

Figs. 2 and 3 are sectional elevations thereof taken on the lines 22 and 33, respectively, of Fig. 1; and

Fi 4 is a sectional plan view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2.

Referring to these drawings, the fuel feeding device includes a suitable casing A, which is preferably provided with a cover portion a so applied to the casing as to render it air-tight, or substantially so. The interior of the casing is designated C and constitutes a substantially air-tight chamber which will hereinafter be termed the fuel su ply chamber.

here is provided in the cover a a fuel inlet 10, an air inlet 11, and a suction connection 12, all of which, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, communicate with the air space of chamber C. The fuel inlet 10 is adapted to be connected to a low level fuel supply tank, and the connection 12 is adapted to be connected to a suitable suction means, all in a manner now Well-known in the art. The chamber C also has a fuel outlet 13, which is provided in the casing A and is adapted for connection with a carburetor in any suitable manner so that fuel may flow from the chamber to the carbureter by gravit The fuel inlet 10, the air inlet 11 and the suction connection 12 are provided with valves 14, 1.5, and 16, respectively. Each of these valves is arranged for automatic and substantially simultaneous operation by means controlled by the level of fuel in the chamber C. Thus, a float 17 is provided in the latter and between the float and each of the described valves are connections, such as will actuate them upon rising or fallin of the float. For example, each of the t ree valves may be supported by the free ends of a pair of spaced arms 18 which are loosely fulcrumed on a rod 19, supported by cover a. Also fulcrumed on rod 19 and between arms 18 is an arm 20, the free end of which is connected by a pair of springs 21 with the free ends of arms 18. The free ends of all three of the arms 20 lie in a circumferential groove 22 formed in a disk 23 which is ri idly attached to the float 17.

e connections between the float and valves are preferably such that each of the three valves is sharply and suddenly actuated from the gradual rise and fall of the float rather than gradually with such rise and fall. Thus, considering Fig. 2, as the float falls, the arms 20 are gradually lowered, but without moving the arms 18. When, however, the arms 20 have been lowered to such an extent that the springs 21 cross from above to below the centers of rods 19, the arms 18 will he suddenly moved downwardly to actuate the valves. Thus, the valves are suddenly and simultaneously moved in one direction when the fuel in but, according to the broad chamber C has fallen to a predetermined level. Similarly, the valves will be suddenly and simultaneously actuated in the other direction after the chamber 0 has [peep filled to a predetermined level with The valves 14 and 16 are so arranged as to close the fuel inlet 10 and suction connection 12, respectively, on an upward swinging movement of their arms 18, or in other words upon rising of the float. The air valve 15, however, 1s so arranged as to open on an upward swinging movement of its arms 18 and to close on a downward swinging movement. Thus, the air valve 15 and the suction valve 16 operate reversely so that chamber C is alternately placed in communication with the atmosphere and the suction means. The fuel valve 14, however, operates similarly to the suction valve 16 so that, when the chamber C is cut off from communication with the source of suction, it is likewise cut off from the fuel supply. Therefore, no fuel can flow into chamber C at times when the air valve 15 is in open position, and the chamber 0 will not become filled to such a level that fuel can leave the chamber through the open air inlet 11.

The c eration of the fuel feeding device will su ciently appear from the foregoing descri tion.

Alt ough, according to the preferred and illustrated form of the invention, valves have been shown to control the suction connection and air inlet, it is recognized that these valves, although desirable, are not indispensable to the operation of a fuel feeding device embodying the present invention. The essential feature of the invention lies more particularly in the positive opening and closing of the fuel inlet, as a means for controlling the fuel level in the fuel supply chamber inde endently of such controlas-is, or may be, a ected by regulation of the suction or air valves or both. According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the control of the fuel inlet is largely a safeguard or'precautionary measure taken to insure the effectiveness of the control of the fuel level in the suppl chamber, which' control may be largely e ected by other means conception of the invention, the control of the fuel level in the suppl chamber is ca able of bei effected by t e fuel inlet va ve alone. though the fuel supply chamber has been descrrbed as sup lying a carbureter, the term carbureter meani chiefly the atomizing devices or nozzles y means of which fue is delivered into the intake manifold of the engine.

The invention has been disclosed, in an embodiment at present preferred, for Jthe purposes of illustration, but the scope of erein is thought of as the invention is defined by the ap ended chamber; and means operable by the float to claim rather than by the foregoing escripopen the valves of the fuel inlet and the 10 tion. suction inlet and to close the valve of the What I claim is- 7 air inlet when the fuel in the chamber has In a fuel feeding device for carbureters; fallen to a predetermined level, all the valves a fuel supply chamber; an air inlet, a fuel being actuated simultaneously and substaninlet, and a suction inlet for the latter; tially instantaneously.

valves for all three inlets; a float in the PIERRE P. GILLES. 

